Summer cruises=tons of kids=lots of trouble

We just returned from the Carnival Dream. In 20+ years of cruising - we have never witnessed such horrible behavior. I travel with children, so I'm definitely not a "kid-hater". Every night(or should I say morning) 1-2am - kids would run up and down the halls knocking on all the doors and yelling. Once I looked out and security was chasing them but, I'm pretty sure they got away because is continued nightly.

One evening we tried to get on an elevator and "someone" had smeared whole pieces of pizza and ice cream cones all over the floor of each elevator. Another day, we were in the photo area and people started to scream - "someone" had thrown 5 apples from the 10th floor of the atrium outside the buffet. The crashed on the floor in the center of the atrium. These are only a FEW of the incidences.

My kids have always had choices: with us, in the kids club, or at a specific place for an activity. Roaming the ship is never an option - not sure where the parents were???

There are a lot of parents who see the entire ship as their backyard playground .

I was on the CCL Dream in Feb. Even in school season, there were plenty of kids. I wish I had a dime for every time someone said "I'll never cruise on Disney, its so many kids." Yes well just try getting a hotdog or hamburger at the grill. There are plenty plenty of kids on RCI and CCL too. This post proves what I have been trying to say.

That is truly awful tho. Wonder if their parents were beveraged out...

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And those parents make it hard on other parents. I've been on cruises on which there were plenty of kids, and no complaints at all. And a couple of cruises ago, there were many complaints about some of the senior citizens being rude and unsafe (people having feet run over from scooters, etc.) on that sailing -- many times from their own peers.

There were hundreds of kids on our December Disney cruise (it was the week before Christmas) but I only saw one instance of kids behaving badly. My granddaughter wanted to see the first showing of Monsters, Inc. in 3D which started at midnight. There was a group of rather loud teenagers on their own in the theatre. A cast member came down and spoke with them and they straightened up.

Like adults there are also all types of kids. Unfortunately some adults do not take control of their children.

Keith

I fully understand what you mean. We cruised once in July and only because we didn't pay for it. We have 2 kids and never again do they even want to cruise when school is not in session!

When we went over 1000 kids on board and it was just a mad house I can't put it any other way. Our last cruise was at the really off time for kids, 1st week of December, and while there were only about 150 under 18 on board, my kids had a hard time with some of them. My (then) 9 year old was about to get in a physical fight because of a group of kids who kept running up and ringing the pizza bell on Carnival. Their parents were sitting at tables right by there and laughing! DH actually had to take him back to the room while I waited for my kids before bed snack that night, but this happened almost every night with those kids!

I will say I do let my teenager "roam" the ship. I don't want to sound like the type of parent who thinks their children are all angels even when they watch them misbehave though. My oldest knows what will get him in trouble and what wouldn't. Even when he was youngest I would read him some of the stories of things kids do on ships and he gets this look of pure terror on his face! Then again, he knows things like the apple throwing (happened on our July cruise also...) if it was to his someone like me who has had brain surgery and a shunt in my head would have a very good chance of killing me if it hit anywhere near it. I mean these are kids I will make a mixed frozen drink at home, be so happy with how something new turned out and offer them a sip and they won't take it so... /shrug.

I don't understand parents who don't watch their kids or even teach them right from wrong. Maybe just some of us are better parents than we give ourselves credit for though!

That's one reason we don't cruise Carnival, they tend to have more children.

I agree -- we have heard too many horror stories about Carnival -- and it seems to be worse in the summer.

Guess you need another vacation to recuperate from your cruise.

Each generation of children seems to lack more and more social skills and manners. Where were the parents indeed. I have a 10 year old son and if he behaved this way and I caught him, they'd be calling security on me rather than him. Usually kids that show no consideration have parents that show no consideration (or they are with other kids and have developed that warped "pack" mentality). I say we start tasing them. :D I kid!

There are a lot of parents who see the entire ship as their backyard playground .

I agree..

I sure am glad we like the longer, exotic cruises. Rarely have more than about 10 children onboard.

people always swear they will never do Disney cuz of the kids.

and yet DISNEY is the only line thus far that

A: did a fantabulous job keeping adult only areas ADULT ONLY

and

B: put the fear of God into roaming kids by staff/Officers. everyone from the lowliest pool boy up to the captain had NO problems speaking sharply/severely to any misbehaving kids.

I saw kids being forced to return to elevators and ride every floor with the Officer before being escorted to their parents in disgrace( i also later heard through the grapevine that one family ended up being kicked off next port as their little darling was a frequent offender)

I also saw a crew member pointedly walk up to a family with small children in the theater waiting for the movie to start and be told in a normal tone of voice( not a whisper but also not a shout for the entire room to hear) that the time frame was clearly marked as being adult only.

The barista in the adult coffee bar by the adult pool was eagle eyed indeed. he'd allow children to come in the one door that was outside the adult only section, get their pastry or whatever and then make sure they went out that same door. he never let then stay beyond that unless an adult was with them and he was making Mum a cafe Mocha.

Honesty, if it weren't for the fact that Disney quite honestly had the worst food of any line, we'd sail with them exclusively.. literally everything else was worth the premium price.

. Another day, we were in the photo area and people started to scream - "someone" had thrown 5 apples from the 10th floor of the atrium outside the buffet. The crashed on the floor in the center of the atrium. These are only a FEW of the incidences.

That's not only bratty behaviour - that's dangerous behaviour. Someone could have really been injured. We've only sailed once on Carnival - never again - and it seemed to me that they overlook this kind of behaviour, because the parents are usually somewhere buying drinks - and more drinks and then some more drinks - and that's far more important to Carnival than the comfort of the rest of their guests.

That's one reason we don't cruise Carnival, they tend to have more children.

Are you talking about the actual children, or describing the behavior of their parents? :D

I have been on many cruises during the times you would find lots of children on board. Some were on Carnival because that is where my daughter wanted to vacation with her children. I have also been on other cruise lines during the same seasons, and have rarely, if ever, experienced the unruliness of the behavior I have seen on those Carnival cruises, from both children and their parents.

I hesitate to make a generalization, but the old saying "You get what you pay for" seemed to apply.

Oh now. This isn't fair.

They paid their fares and it's their vacation and they should be able to enjoy their cruise and have a good time, same as any other passenger.

Sounds just awful. Parents and if not then security should have stopped the shananigans!

I tend to pick the very front or the very back of the ship because I find these areas quieter. I am a light sleeper and the less foot traffic going by me especially between 1-8 the better.

Guess I've been fortunate in that I've not had the "pleasure" of experiencing those kids/parents. On my Panama Canal cruise there were a couple families who had, between them, 6 or 7 kids. At a MUTS show one night the kids decided they wanted to sit away from the parents, and of course the area they chose was right by me! Fortunately one of the mothers told them that they needed to behave themselves and not bother the man (me). While they certainly didn't sit still for the movie, they were fairly well behaved. Guess I needed to thank the parents for bringing them up right.

It doesn't matter if it's school vacation time or not, there are parents who take their kids out of school and at times, those kids can be a nightmare. I did a 14 day Panama Canal cruise in late Feb to early March, not a school vacation time. There was a group of an extended family that had about 25 kids of all ages. For the entire cruise, these kids were totally out of control. They threw human feces in the main pool, not just once, but twice, forcing the closure of the pool for two days each time. They set off a stink bomb in the disco, they got into food fights in the buffet, one time taking the big salad bowl and throwing it at a table. They sat on the opposite side of the MDR from the adults and got into food fights nearly every night. I was standing in line to get bingo cards and I never heard such filthy language from such young kids when the crew member refused to sell them bingo cards because none were of age. These kids verbally abused the crew a lot. I asked the Captain's Club hostess why they allowed this family to continue and she said they're one of the most wealthy families in Mexico, and they spend thousands in both the casino and bars, so they don't want to lose their business. IMHO, they don't care about hacking off all the rest of their passengers just to keep this family happy. Doesn't make sense.

Sorry you had to experience such bad behavior. Even if it was a small minority of kids behaving that way, they're the ones you remember and it does impact everyone. The few 'bad apples' however, have always been around. One of our first cruises in the early '80's, we had kids roaming the halls at night who systematically reversed all "Do Not Disturb" signs to the opposite side that said something like "Room Service Please". That was mildly annoying, but on one of the last nights, they emptied many of the ship's fire extinguishers into hallways and completely filled one laundry room with the foam. Not funny, downright dangerous, and inexcusable. We know the ships officers and crew were furious, but don't know if they caught the kids or not, as there weren't as many cameras then as there are today.

It doesn't matter if it's school vacation time or not, there are parents who take their kids out of school and at times, those kids can be a nightmare. I did a 14 day Panama Canal cruise in late Feb to early March, not a school vacation time. There was a group of an extended family that had about 25 kids of all ages. For the entire cruise, these kids were totally out of control. They threw human feces in the main pool, not just once, but twice, forcing the closure of the pool for two days each time. They set off a stink bomb in the disco, they got into food fights in the buffet, one time taking the big salad bowl and throwing it at a table. They sat on the opposite side of the MDR from the adults and got into food fights nearly every night. I was standing in line to get bingo cards and I never heard such filthy language from such young kids when the crew member refused to sell them bingo cards because none were of age. These kids verbally abused the crew a lot. I asked the Captain's Club hostess why they allowed this family to continue and she said they're one of the most wealthy families in Mexico, and they spend thousands in both the casino and bars, so they don't want to lose their business. IMHO, they don't care about hacking off all the rest of their passengers just to keep this family happy. Doesn't make sense.

You mentioned the Captain's Club hostess, was that a Celebrity cruise? Did you write to the cruiseline after the cruise? I would have been furious.

Sorry to say, but it's not just cruise ships where kids behave badly. The resorts I have and do work at have this problem quite a bit. These aren't mediocre places but Forbes 4&5 star joints. Kids running around the lobby, screaming, finding that the lobby is a great place to run their RC car they just got for Christmas, running behind the Front Desk to get another Wi game instead of waiting and asking. Just tonight, we had a kid go over and start climbing a 10 foot wall!!! Where were the parents - up on the bar terrace!!! Security was called numerous times. Finally took the kids up to the terrace and had their parents come and get them and take them away...

I'm not stereotyping here, but some of the absolute worst guests I've encountered were the wealthy families from Mexico, Brazil, Panama, Argentina. I used to dread that couple of weeks after New Year's when the folks from South America drop by because the kids are out of school for summer.

I am taking my boys (9 &12) on their first cruise next week..This stuff you are talking about is horrifying! I cannot even imagine them doing some of this stuff.... They are not perfect but I have never seen them act this way nor do I expect them to all of the sudden start acting this way! We are frequent travelers and they do not run around like crazy people! I hope that I do not experience some of these things from other kids you all are talking about! We are on the Lido deck so Maybe I shouldnt hold my breath! lol

Having read this, I think I will definitely continue my practice of only going in the spring or fall when school is in session.

Having sailed Carnival, RCCL, Princess and Disney the only cruise line that we had a problem with kids was on Disney. Now I have only sailed once on Disney so maybe I just hit a horrible cruise. Carnival was the best followed by both RCCL (although that was many years ago on the Rhapsody of the Seas) and Princess.

tigercat